BREWSTER: There is no denying Danica Patrick's appeal

Few drivers - examples in their primes include A.J. Foyt and the senior Dale Earnhardt - have achieved the status Danica Patrick has today: very little middle ground.

You're either for her or not.

Foyt (IndyCar) and Earnhardt (NASCAR) backed up their character flaws with numerous checkered flags. Patrick has only one win (in Japan) but has greatly benefited by the work of marketing people and public relations firms.

Until last Sunday.

She (fill in your own verb) the racing world by becoming the first woman to win the pole for the Daytona 500, stock car's biggest race. It's rather doubtful many others could have endured the pressures she has handled since she started racing, even before reaching the highest level.

"I feel like, first and foremost, I grew up with good values and good goals. I was brought up to be the fastest driver, not the fastest girl," she said after her historic moment. "That was instilled in me from very young, from the beginning.

"Then I feel like thriving in those moments where the pressure's on has also been a help for me. I also feel like I've been lucky in my career to be with good teams and have good people around me.

"I don't think any of it would have been possible without that."

Some of her biggest detractors, although not openly, have been competitors. They have, however, understood the attention she has generated has been good for them as well. Her biggest fans? Youngsters and their parents.

"I've had the experience with mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, listening to them say the reason why they're here as a family today is because of me out there," Patrick said. "Whether it brings the girls out, the guys out, whatever it is, I don't care. That's nice to hear. It's also nice to hear families talk about the fact that a little girl might say, `But, mommy, daddy, that's a girl out there!'

"Then they can have the conversation with their kid about you can do anything you want and being different doesn't by any means not allow you to follow your dreams. I love to think that conversation happens in households because of something I'm doing."

Those conversations certainly will take place Sunday.

Some research following the Winternationals, the NHRA Drag Racing Series opener over the weekend at Fairplex produced a startling fact. Never before in its 63-year history have there been younger winners.

Vincent Nobile, a full-time student at Delphi University in New York who drives for a Pro Stock team based in Rancho Cucamonga, was the youngest at 21. Courtney Force, the youngest daughter of 15-time Funny Car champion John Force, won her second title in the same class at 24. The elder statesman was Top Fuel dragster winner Shawn Langdon at 30.

A close second were the winners last summer in Seattle: Steve Torrence (Top Fuel) at 29; Courtney at 24 and Erica Enders (Pro Stock) at 28.

Could this be start of a new era for NHRA?

Many veterans such as Force remain, but there are a number of young drivers in Top Fuel and Funny Car. Nobile is among a handful of competitors under 40 in Pro Stock, long considered the most competitive of the four pro classes.

The day will start at 6 a.m. in Huntington Beach, where Irons and Kalama will `school' Johnson, Richards and Rahlves. At 9:30, Johnson will be the mentor as the remaining quartet get behind the wheel at Auto Club Speedway.

Fans are invited to view the action in Fontana and help break-in the "Pit Box Lounge."

After a short flight to Mammoth, it will be Richards, Rahlve and Kalamas mentoring Johnson and Walsh beginning at 1 p.m.

During last week's unveiling of the 2014 Chevrolet SS that will race in NASCAR this year, team owner Rick Hendrick said without the Gen 6 the red bow tie might have disappeared.

"It would have been a good chance," Hendrick. "As a matter of fact, I'm sure they might have."

This from an owner who won 60 races and four champions in the car of tomorrow that debuted in 2007 and was used throughout last season.

"The car of tomorrow, we had a lot of success with it and won championships with it, but it was time to get back to our roots and a production car we could race," Hendrick said.

NASCAR president Mike Helton agreed it was a push from Chevrolet that led to the Gen 6 car.

"They backed us in a corner and said, `Here's what you guys need to think about doing,' " Helton said.

Scribbled information in the margins of a new Mello Yello notebook:

Racers and jets.

On Tuesday, Austin Dillon had the opportunity to fly in an F-16 with the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds. In several weeks, Courtney Force and Hight will take rides in an F-18 with the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels. ...

Construction has started to convert busy city streets into a competitive course for the 39th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 19-21. Over the next two months, more than 14 million pounds of concrete blocks will be set. ...

Sunday's winner of the Daytona 500 will meet Southern California NASCAR fans next Wednesday at Sprinkles Cupcakes at The Grove in the Los Angeles Fairfax district. It's part of the national tour for the winner.

The event will start at 3p.m....

A.J. Allmendinger, who lost his NASCAR ride last year after failing a drug test, was back in an IndyCar for the first time since October, 2006 in a test earlier in the week at Sebring International Raceway in Florida. He was driving a car for Roger Penske, who owned the NASCAR ride Allmendinger lost.

"I'm so grateful to the organization to give me this opportunity. To what I went through last year, to have Roger ask me to come here and drive one of his race cars happy is an understatement," Allmendinger, 31, said. "In this process, I've learned a lot about myself and how to be a better person."